The Greatest Gift, Part 5.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Welcome to Village Church. If this is the first time you’ve ever been here, my name’s Steve. [0:03] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church and I’m thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:08] And I just want to say Merry Christmas from me and the staff and all the volunteers here at Village Church. [0:14] And if you have your Bible, go ahead and open it up to Luke chapter 2. [0:18] If you don’t have your Bible, that’s OK. [0:19] It’ll be on this. The words of the text will be on the screen behind me while we go through it.

[0:25] But just to begin, I want to kind of do something that’s probably a tradition in some of your families, [0:30] probably not a tradition in other of your families. [0:32] But I want to just start by reading through the Christmas story that we find in Luke chapter 2. [0:39] And I’m going to start reading in verse 1 this evening. [0:43] And it’s going to be on the screen behind me. And just follow along with me. [0:47] It says,

[1:19] And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. [1:25] And she gave birth to her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger [1:30] because there was no room for them in the inn. [1:33] And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. [1:39] And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, the glory of the Lord shone around them. [1:43] And they were filled with great fear.

[1:48] The angel said to them, fear not, for behold, I bring you good news, great joy that will be for all the people. [1:58] For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who’s Christ the Lord. [2:04] And this will be a sign for you. [2:07] You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. [2:11] And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, [2:17] glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

[2:23] When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherd said to one another, [2:27] let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. [2:34] And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. [2:39] And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. [2:45] And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. [2:50] But Mary treasured all these things up in her heart.

[2:55] And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. [3:05] You know, this is a story that possibly you’ve heard read already during this season. [3:10] Possibly you have read it by yourself with your family. [3:14] Maybe today, maybe the day is proceeding. [3:17] Maybe you have a plan this evening afterwards as a family to gather tomorrow morning as a family to gather and read this story. [3:24] My purpose this evening, just for a few moments, is to talk about why this story is so significant,

[3:32] why we can read through this story yet miss everything that’s really happening. [3:38] And if we miss the foundation, if we miss the reason that this story is so remarkable, [3:44] yet also so ordinary, then we will miss everything, not just for Christmas, but we will miss everything for life.

[3:53] You know, we were created by God. [3:57] He spoke and the world existed. [3:59] Then He formed us uniquely in His image with a specific purpose. [4:05] And our purpose was that we would be a people defined by God, that we would find in Him all of our joy, [4:13] that we would find in Him a relationship that gives us satisfaction. [4:18] And we would live our lives pursuing obeying Him in everything that we do to make Him known to everyone else.

[4:29] But as you read in the stories of Genesis, very quickly, we rebel against God, we sin against God, [4:35] we disobey Him and that leaning towards that default instinct to disobey God and find our joy in things that aren’t God, [4:45] to find our worth in things that aren’t God, to even find our identity in things that God says we shouldn’t find our identity in, [4:52] and just live in disobedience to God is this inclination that every one of us is actually born with.

[5:01] But God, rather than responding in a way in which we would understand when someone sins against us and hurts us so grievously, [5:11] rather than condemn us, rather than seek vengeance, rather than simply seek to punish every one of us in a way that we deserve it, [5:19] instead God sets out immediately on a mission to save. [5:25] Right when He tells man that man has sinned against Him, He gives hope. [5:30] And He says, [5:31] Because there is coming a day when I will send someone who will defeat this sin, this sin that causes pain,

[5:40] this sin that hurts us, this sin that makes the world around us so violent so often, [5:46] God says immediately, I’m going to defeat it, trust me.

[5:51] Then God through the Old Testament gives us pictures of this victory, He gives us pictures of this redemption, [5:57] He gives us messages of exoduses from a place of pain to a place of promise and a place of joy.

[6:07] But then in Luke 2, we see the culmination of every promise, of every redemption that God ever made anywhere in Scripture. [6:21] God even descends to a group of shepherds and He says, I want you to understand something amazing is happening in this night.

[6:31] Don’t miss that. [6:34] In John chapter 1 verse 14, it actually summarizes the events that took place in Luke 2, [6:41] and it explains that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we’ve seen His glory. [6:49] Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. [6:56] I want you to understand one thing about this season, and that is that as followers of Jesus, [7:00] we must understand that Christmas is about the gift of God.

[7:06] That we do not see in Luke 2 just an ordinary birth. [7:11] We see God Himself, who John 1, 14 calls the Word. [7:16] And the reason that is significant is because Jesus, under that definition, comes as the revelation of who God is. [7:25] He is God, revealing Himself to everyone that exists at a specific place, at a specific time, [7:31] that’s recorded for you and I, centuries later, to look at and say, [7:36] how is some miracle such as this possible, that the God who created all that is,

[7:41] the God that is all-powerful, the God who decades and centuries earlier promises, [7:48] I’m going to defeat sin. [7:49] He comes and He says, I’m here, and He reveals it to a group of insignificant, ordinary people [7:55] with an insignificant and ordinary young girl who has an insignificant and ordinary fiancé. [8:01] And He says, I’m here, there I am. [8:04] Go, look, worship, wonder, this is me.

[8:09] And there’s Jesus, laying in the crib. [8:15] If you have a baby, if you’ve ever had a baby, that’s what Jesus looked like.

[8:22] It seems fairly insignificant to you and it seems fairly insignificant to me. [8:26] But in that manger, on that night, what was there was the same God that Hebrews says holds the entire world in His hands.

[8:38] And it’s such a gift because it is the great God, the omniscient being, the all-powerful God saying, [8:45] I don’t want there to be any mystery, I want you to know who I am. [8:53] That is God’s gift to you.

[8:57] He vanquishes every mystery, He vanquishes every doubt, [9:02] and He says, this is me. [9:03] Look, wonder, believe. [9:08] Jesus walks through this world with absolute perfection, healing, raising the dead, [9:18] then ultimately raising Himself from the dead.

[9:22] In this story, we see an actual set of circumstances where these two go and they register for their taxes in Bethlehem. [9:31] Shepherds in the field are confronted by angels proclaiming the miraculous birth, [9:36] and He gives glory and He says, this is going to be peace for all people. [9:41] And maybe in this season you’re saying, this isn’t a peaceful season for me.

[9:47] If you bring good news of great joy, why don’t I feel more, as people say, in the Christmas spirit.

[9:55] Christmas is a season of gathering with your family, gathering with your friends, [9:59] opening gifts and having great joy, but there are many people who in this season are enduring nothing but pain, [10:05] but Jesus comes to confront us in that. [10:10] Jesus came because of your great pain. [10:13] Jesus came because you struggle to feel in any type of joyous spirit. [10:19] So if that’s where you are, understand that this is more significant to you maybe right now than it’s ever been in your life.

[10:27] That Jesus came because you lack peace, He came because you lack joy, [10:32] and He came because everywhere you’re going to turn to fix that problem is going to leave you in the same state that you are already in. [10:41] Because even in times of pain, and especially in times where we don’t have the hope, [10:47] and we don’t have the satisfaction that we think that we need, [10:51] that is the moment that God comes and He says, this is why I’m here, this is why you need me, [10:57] this is the reason why you need God in your life,

[11:01] and I want you to know this evening that the only place that you can find that hope, [11:06] the only place that you can find God is in Jesus. [11:11] You can’t find it anywhere else.

[11:15] In Jesus, we can have hope because Jesus is God with us.

[11:25] See some four centuries before Jesus ever stepped foot on this earth in a physical body, [11:31] God said through a prophet in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, [11:36] He says unto us a child is born, [11:39] to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder, [11:43] and his name shall be wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, [11:49] Prince of Peace.

[11:54] You see friends, you need to be saved.

[12:00] And an infant seems very insignificant in the moment that you realize that you need peace, [12:05] that you need hope, that you need salvation, [12:08] but that’s also the reason why he did not stay 8 pounds 6 ounce baby Jesus.

[12:14] He was a man, he had a beard.

[12:19] Yeah he did.

[12:22] Jesus lived a life where he matured, where he grew, [12:28] where he was perfect in every way that you are not perfect, [12:32] where he obeyed in every place that you struggle to obey. [12:38] You see many of you are found in a place where you think salvation is about being better, [12:45] where you think you’ll find satisfaction once you’re good enough, [12:49] you think you will find the feeling of God in your life once you clean up the mess

[12:54] that has happened in your life, [12:56] and I want you to know that Jesus represents the fact that that’s not true. [13:01] Jesus isn’t waiting for you to be good enough, [13:04] Jesus came to be good enough for you because you can’t do it. [13:11] And that is why in Jesus we find the greatest gift that our life could ever have. [13:19] Jesus came because you need God.

[13:26] You see Christmas is about the gift number 2, [13:29] of faith that saves us.

[13:35] Jesus is the most valuable gift in all of history. [13:40] For him to be an effective gift though, [13:43] he has to be a gift that you treasure.

[13:47] The Bible tells us the complete story of this world’s history, [13:51] past, present, future. [13:54] Human beings were created by God to worship him, but sin came. [14:00] See often times we read the Bible and we’re like why did they eat that apple? [14:03] But you see sin is bigger than biting an apple.

[14:11] It’s about being so prideful that you believe God can be ignored. [14:18] And a path away from the one that he gives is better for you. [14:24] That a path that is separate from the path that Jesus took, [14:28] that a path that is separate from the path that God calls you to, [14:31] to trust in Jesus, to have faith in Jesus, to follow Jesus. [14:36] The original sin that condemns you is the sin of believing that there’s something else out there

[14:43] that’s better for you than the gift that Jesus gives. [14:47] And you do not truly treasure that gift unless you fully say, [14:51] yes I believe.

[14:54] You have to believe that Jesus was born with a mission. [14:58] A mission to save you. [15:01] A mission to take the punishment for my sin against God and your sin against God. [15:07] The amazing miracle of Christmas was done in order to save you and me. [15:14] And that is who we find in Jesus. [15:18] God became a man so that we wouldn’t have to guess as to who he is,

[15:22] but he wants you to receive his gift and he wants you to live in him. [15:27] And through him, he’s the God of every one of us and through faith, [15:33] he’s a savior. [15:35] And you say, what does that faith look like? [15:38] Well friends, I’ll tell you, it looks bigger than a baby in a manger. [15:41] It’s bigger than just looking and saying, how unique that God would come in that way.

[15:47] It goes past that manger and it goes on a path that takes him to a cross. [15:52] Where because of the sin that we talked about earlier, [15:56] Jesus lived a perfect life so that he would not have any sin to be punished for. [16:02] Because if he doesn’t have any sin to be punished for, [16:05] that makes him unique and that makes him fit the prerequisite [16:10] in order to be the substitute for your sin.

[16:15] And on the cross, Jesus takes your sin onto himself [16:20] and he bled and he died so that you can know God. [16:26] He says that if you trust him, [16:28] if you understand that you’ve sinned against him [16:31] and that you deserve for God to kill you, [16:35] you deserve for God to condemn you,

[16:38] you deserve for God to pour wrath on you. [16:41] And you say, that doesn’t sound like an inspirational line. [16:43] It does if you want to treasure the gift that Jesus brings [16:48] where he removes condemnation, where he removes penalty, [16:52] where he removes all of the wrath of God, [16:55] takes it on himself and then offers you the gift

[16:58] of being redeemed and forgiven [17:00] of all the sins you’ve ever committed in your life, [17:03] all of the sins that you’re committing right now, [17:05] and all of the sin that you will ever commit in this life. [17:09] That is what Jesus died for. [17:12] And he says, if you trust me,

[17:15] he will forgive you. [17:19] He’ll wipe the slate clean and do more than that. [17:23] He’s not a god of second chances. [17:25] He’s a god of a new life [17:26] where no condemnation will ever be leveled against you [17:32] because Jesus is your victory.

[17:36] That is the gift of God. [17:39] That is the mission that he was on. [17:42] God is not scared of you. [17:45] God is not waiting until you screw up bad enough [17:48] to punish you. [17:51] God did not wait around for us to get our act together

[17:54] and clean his creation up. [17:56] Instead, God entered into creation and he came to us [18:00] and he still comes to us with the message [18:04] of what happened on that day [18:06] where the God who is there, the God who is not silent, [18:09] and the God who wants to save you

[18:12] so that when there comes a day [18:15] when you and I will stand before him, [18:17] he will look to us and he will not level the weight [18:20] of our sin against us. [18:22] And instead he will see the perfect righteousness [18:26] of Jesus and he will look to us and say,

[18:31] welcome home.

[18:34] That is the gift of Christmas.

[18:39] When Jesus left this earth [18:42] after his mission was complete, [18:44] after his resurrection from the dead, [18:47] he promised, he said, I will never leave you. [18:51] I will never forsake you. [18:54] I want you to understand tonight

[18:56] that if you trust in Jesus, he will come into your life [18:59] and he will never leave you for any reason. [19:03] He will never abandon you. [19:06] He will never condemn you. [19:08] He offers a perfect forgiveness, [19:11] a perfect grace, and a perfect love

[19:14] that knows no end. [19:18] There is always hope. [19:20] Always the promise of peace [19:22] and always the gift of God in your life [19:24] so that no matter what happens in your life, [19:28] he will be with you and he will ultimately

[19:31] deliver you into his kingdom. [19:35] Friend, you are a sinner [19:38] in need of the gift of God. [19:44] And God sent Jesus to save you. [19:48] Have you received his gift? [19:51] If you haven’t,

[19:54] you can know God tonight. [19:56] He will save you. [19:59] He will redeem you. [20:01] And he will give you the gift of his presence [20:03] not just for the rest of your life [20:05] because this life will end.

[20:09] He will give you his peace and his presence [20:12] for eternity.

[20:17] I would love to have seen what the shepherd saw that night.

[20:22] That amazing choir of angels. [20:25] But I have never seen it. [20:28] But here is the hope of Jesus. [20:30] Because of what Jesus did, [20:33] there is coming a day where I will not only see [20:35] that band of angels,

[20:37] I will see God face to face [20:39] and I will worship him like the shepherds did [20:43] that night. [20:46] That is where you put your hope this season. [20:49] Receive Christ. [20:51] Receive him now.

[20:53] As the band comes up, [20:56] I want to close by singing a few songs [21:00] just worshiping the God [21:02] who has done this for us. [21:04] The God who saves.

[21:07] Tonight and tomorrow, [21:09] as you have great fun with your family, [21:11] I pray, do not miss out on the greatest gift.

[21:18] Our Father, [21:20] thank you for Jesus. [21:23] Thank you for your love. [21:25] Thank you for Christmas. [21:29] In Jesus’ name, amen.